Volvo Ocean Race - Team Akzonobel comments on Tienpont dismissal

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World NZ on 15 Oct 2017 Team AkzoNobel sailing and shore teams have released a second statement clarifying the abrupt dismissal of it's Volvo Ocean Race skipper Simeon Tienpont.

The dismissal came to light before the start of the In Port Race, in Alicante.

It would appear from the statement that the Dutch based multi-national paints and performance coatings manufacturer has terminated a contract negotiated between themselves and Simeon Tienpont's company STEAM Ocean BV to manage the Dutch flagged Volvo Ocean Race entry.

The team had opted to have a new boat built for the 45,000nm race which gets underway on October 22 from Alicante, Spain, where Volvo Ocean race is headquartered. Already an In Port race and a Prologue leg have been sailed.

In the statement the company claim that Tienpont's company breached its contract with them. No details have been provided to substantiate the nature of the breech or specifics on why they felt that it was necessary to terminate a relationship which had been running since early July 2016.

Simeon Tienpont a twice winner of the America's Cup with Oracle Team USA, and who sailed with Softbank Team Japan in the 35th America's Cup as a Grinder has sailed in two previous editions of the Volvo Ocean Race. He disputes the claims made by AkzoNobel. In a later statement issued by Tienpont it was claimed that Akzo Nobel had withheld payments from STORM Ocean BV and the company was unable to pay its contracted sailors.

The yacht raced without Tienpont in the In Port race sailed on Saturday in Alicante. Team AkzoNobel finished third in the shortened Prologue Race from Lisbon, Portugal to Alicante, Spain.

Update Overnight there was no additional news from two Dutch news sites, who both relied heavily on the three statements published to date (of which the latest is published below). NU Sport reports that the project had been outsourced to Tienpont's company STEAM Ocean BV. They report that the company has taken over the contract from Steam and that the remaining crew and shore teams will continue. Akzo Nobel will pay the crew directly for all ongoing outstanding and ongoing salaries. Various names are being put into the media - with the most favoured being Chris Nicholson (AUS) former skipper of Vestas Wind in the previous race, and watch captain Brad Jackson (NZL).

News on Sunday reiterates the claim that while AkzoNobel wanted to break the contractual relationship with STEAM Ocean BV, they wished to retain Tienpoint as an individual and skipper. Not surprisingly that position was unacceptable to Tienpont.

The statement issued by AkzoNobel Sailing and Shore teams reads:

First of all, we want to thank everyone for the many messages and comments the team has received over what has been a difficult few days for us. We appreciate every single one of them – the positive and the negative ones – and we very much value everyone’s passion for the campaign.

Right now team AkzoNobel is dealing with a challenge none of us ever expected to face. It has been tough, but the sailors and the shoreside support staff are united in their intention to be on the start line next Sunday for the start of Leg 1 of the Volvo Ocean Race.

The complex nature of the events that have unfolded over the last week have meant we have been unable to communicate with our supporters as openly as we would normally do so, and for that we are sorry.

Team AkzoNobel trialling on August 2, 2017 ahead of the Volvo Ocean Race © Ainhoa Sanchez/Volvo Ocean Race

The title partner and owner of the team has said:

– Simeon Tienpont’s management company STEAM breached its contract to manage the team AkzoNobel entry in the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18 [S-W - disputed by Tienpont/STEAM]

– The breach was serious enough [S-W - disputed by Tienpont/STEAM] for AkzoNobel to terminate the contract with immediate effect and AkzoNobel then took over the full management of the team

– Simeon was offered the option to continue as skipper but opted not to continue and has left the team

AkzoNobel has restated to us its unwavering commitment to our entry in the Volvo Ocean Race.

The sailing team and management are working together to move forward and find the best solution for the race which starts in seven days’ time.

As soon as the new skipper is confirmed we will make sure our sailing fans are the first to know about it.

In the world of professional sport and particularly in major global sporting competitions like the Volvo Ocean Race, teams have to be able to deal with whatever adversities come their way.

We are all working in the best interest for the team and the Volvo Ocean Race.

Thanks once again for your support which we value even more than ever at this time.

When queried as to whether Team AkzoNobel had funding independent of Simeon Tienpont's company STEAM Ocean BV to continue with the 2017/18 Volvo Ocean Race, a spokesperson for AzkoNobel confirmed 'that the management of the team is fully under AkzoNobel'.

Further questions have been posed to AkzoNobel By Sail-World.com/nz over the circumstances of the dismissal.